Staff photo by Fritz Busch Republican candidate Brad Finstad of New Ulm talks at a 1st Congressional District candidates forum Tuesday during the opening day of Farmfest 2022.

NEW ULM — The Sister Cities Commission held a welcome reception for Felix Willmann, Monday.

Willmann is the Hans Joohs exchange intern visiting from sister city Ulm, Germany.

Willmann was born and raised in Ulm. He will stay in New Ulm on the exchange program through Oct. 15 and will intern at 3M.

“It is a new environment, and I am really excited to be involved and see what I can do,” he said.

Willmann has a background in automation technology, and, having attended a trade school, he qualifies as an automation technology specialist, which makes him a good fit at 3M.

Willmann said he studied automation because he is technical-minded and enjoyed this type of work. There is also a need for workers with a background in automation in Germany and the United States.

Willmann joined the Hans Joohs program after his mother showed him an ad in an Ulm newspaper.

“I’ve always wanted to travel to other countries and learn about other cultures,” he said.

This is Willmann’s second time in the United States. He previously visited Florida and New York City with his family. This is his first time in the Midwest. He said the biggest surprise on seeing Minnesota is how it is “the same green as Germany.”

Willmann had previously seen the Everglades of Florida and the concrete jungle of New York but was surprised to see Minnesota looked similar to his home country.

Another similarity he noticed was in the names. Many of the New Ulm’s last names are the same in Germany.

Willmann arrived in New Ulm on July 22. His current host family, Dick and Sharon Seeboth have already taken him to see local attractions like Hermann the German, Schell’s Brewery and the Jeffers Petroglyphs.

Willmann is open to making the most of his time while in the New Ulm area. He hopes to continue exploring nature on hiking trips. He also is excited about taking a canoe trip in the Boundary Waters.

At the end of the exchange program, Willmann said he intends to remain in the United States a little longer to explore the east and west coasts. He hopes to visit some of the national parks.

The Sister Cities Commission encourages young New Ulm professionals to consider applying for the exchange program. Willmann said it was definitely a worthy experience. He thanked everyone who made the program possible, including 3M for the intern experience and Jensen Motors for loaning him a vehicle during his stay.

Willmann will be staying with Dick and Sharon Seeboth through Sept. 3. Terry and Ellie Sveine will be his host family from Sept. 4 through Oct. 15.